Fly Away, Little Dove
by SinningBySilence
Summary: "Do you love her?" The question comes so suddenly. Taken aback, Robin looks up at the woman in front of him. He sees the hurt, the pain in her eyes, and it's unfair. It is so unfair. {Post-season 3 finale drabble}


_**Is everyone still recovering from the finale? Yes? Ugh September is soooo far away!**_

_**Anyway, this is just a little something I wrote because I felt Robin's feelings were being a bit neglected in all of this craziness.**_

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"Do you love her?"

The question comes so suddenly. Taken aback, Robin looks up at the woman in front of him. He sees the hurt, the pain in her eyes, and it's unfair. It is _so_ unfair.

For a moment, he recalls the grief he had felt when he lost his wife. It had been so long ago. He recalls the many sleepless nights, Roland curled up at his side and crying when his mother wouldn't come to soothe him. The boy had only been two years old. Even though he knew Marian was gone, he didn't understand why; couldn't understand why. It was those nights when Robin held him, trying his best to serve as both father and mother.

Other nights when Roland was less dependent and more comfortable sleeping on his own, Robin would sneak off, taking advantage of the time alone. Often he would find a spot with the best view of the sky and look up at the stars, thinking that surely one of them must be her. She had certainly been as beautiful as all of them combined. The thought that she was there, watching over their boy and offering forgiveness for the awful mistake that led to her death, was comforting.

It had taken a long time for him to accept that she was gone. But somehow, he did.

And, oh, the joy that had filled him when she had turned up in that diner. At first, he had to shake his head, check that his eyes weren't deceiving him. She wasn't supposed to be there; she was gone. Yet there she was, just as stunning as he remembered. Having her in his arms again was everything he had ever dreamed of.

Except Regina Mills had already found a special place in his heart.

He remembers the first time he met her. She definitely hadn't been shy in expressing her distaste. Under normal circumstances, he would be appalled at such behavior. Instead, he had found her...captivating. Challenging. He saw it the longer they had spent together

He remembers the first time she showed him her complexity. She had been so ready to put herself under an indefinite curse, all for the pain of losing her son. All because she truly did not believe she had a reason to continue through life. It had hurt him to see, even for not knowing her long at all. Nobody should ever feel so unloved and hopeless. Not even a not-so-evil queen.

Storybrooke had been such a different experience with her. She was in a better place, although still not nearly okay. But she was more open, and he got to see her vulnerability. At first, it was just infatuation, an attraction to her feisty nature. As he got to experience more and get to know her, though, she became the most beautiful thing to him. He saw her pain and insecurities, and he couldn't help but want to protect her—to protect what little she had left to hold dear. And when he had failed her, lost her heart to Zelena, it hurt him. He knew he had to make it his mission to fix it before it was too late, unlike he had been able to for Marian.

Then she kissed him, and he had felt as though his heart would jump right out of his chest. She had the softest lips and a heart that, even when absent, poured out every ounce of emotion she had. He loved that she opened up to him, letting him experience her and everything about her that was purely Regina. Every moment with her since then has been so precious.

She means so much to him—so very, very much—and his heart cries out for her.

They _both_ mean the world to him.

But he knows it's selfish of him to continue stringing both of them along. He has a choice, and that choice is breaking his heart. Neither of them deserves this. Just as he deserves neither of them and the love they both have to offer.

But watching the woman in front of him, facing her question, reminds him that he can't lie. He also knows that their problems go far beyond her insecurity that his love for another is stronger. And as much as he wants to pretend that she has no reason to feel these insecurities, there is no way he can keep going like this. There is no way he can keep lying to her and leading her to believe that they're okay.

Because they're not.

If he's honest, he's known all this time they're not meant to continue their journey together. The revelation is painful, but it's the truth. And he owes her that much.

"Yes, Marian," he whispers brokenly. "I do. Very much so."

He searches her eyes then, waiting for a reaction. She doesn't seem surprised.

Instead, she reaches a gentle hand across the table to him, placing it over his own, and gives him a light squeeze. He sees no tears fall from her eyes as she does it, though she looks just as broken as he likely does.

"Then go to her."

It isn't a suggestion

Her voice is soft but definite, full of certainty but also bittersweet pain.. Her decision is final, and the only way to make any of this right is to heed her words. Because the love they had, it was never in vain. It never would be. But it's time for them to move on.

She is releasing him. And he hopes and prays with every fiber of his being that she finds love again. He knows she will, because she is incredible. Because anyone to whom she gives her love would be a fool not to cherish her. Because she was once his entire world, and she deserves to have someone else find that in her.

Just as he has come to find in Regina.

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**_Thoughts?_**


End file.
